Game (film)
Encyclopedia
Gamer is a 2009 science fiction
thriller film written and directed by Mark Neveldine
and Brian Taylor
. The film stars Gerard Butler
as a participant in an online game in which participants can control
human beings as players, and Logan Lerman
as the player who controls him. Gamer was released in North America on September 4, 2009 and the United Kingdom on September 16, 2009.
, eccentric Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall
) has revolutionized the gaming industry with his invention of self-replicating nanites that replace existing brain cells and allow full control of all motor functions by a third party. The first major application of this technology is a game called Society, which allows gamer
s to control a real person in a pseudo community (much like current simulated worlds such as The Sims
or Second Life
but with far more telepresence
and mind control). This generally boils down to the players engaging in all manner of debauchery, such as deliberately injuring their "characters", engaging in sex with random people, and eating disgusting things because they don't actually have to taste it. As a result, those who work as "characters" in Society are very well paid for their participation. A second game, Slayers, is a multiplayer, third-person shooter game with death-row prisoners as avatars in genuinely lethal battles. Any inmate who lives through thirty matches wins a full pardon. Simon, a seventeen-year old gamer (Logan Lerman
) has control over John "Kable" Tillman (Gerard Butler
), the most recognizable face in Slayers due to having survived twenty-seven matches, far more than any other participant in Slayers history.
While Castle, now fabulously wealthy from the success of the two games, is interviewed on a talk show, an activist organization called the "Humanz" hijacks the broadcast and claims that Castle will eventually use the nanite technology to control people against their will. After a stranger gives Tillman a warning in his prison cell that the game's mastermind plans to kill him, Tillman asks Simon to relinquish control over him in the thirtieth match. He uses this opportunity to escape and successfully drives out of the deathmatch arena while news outlets report that he has been officially listed as frag
ged.
Tillman is taken to the Humanz leader (Ludacris
) who explains that the mind control technology can potentially be used without discretion on anyone, leading to the "extinction of independent thought". Tillman seeks out his wife Angie (Amber Valletta
), who has been working as an avatar for a particularly heinous Society player. After a violent confrontation with security he manages to escape with her. He returns to the Humanz base where the rebels deactivate the nanite cells in Angie's brain.
Tillman reveals to the Humanz leader that he was convicted of murder when Castle used the mind control technology to force him to murder his best friend. Upon learning that Castle has adopted his daughter, Tillman infiltrates his mansion. Castle leads him to a room with a large basketball court and, after a song-and-dance number, using mind-controlled Slayer warriors as backup dancers, reveals that the nanites in his brain allow him to control others infested by the technology. To demonstrate, Castle beats Tillman savagely while restricting him from fighting back. Angie and their daughter are brought out after Castle reveals that most of the Humanz have been found and killed. Castle then allows Tillman to crawl to his family and attempts to force him to kill his own daughter, though Tillman resists. The last two members of the Humanz broadcast this confrontation and then give Simon control of Tillman. He interferes with Castle's control and allows Tillman to move towards him.
The interference and Tillman's prompting that Castle think about stabbing himself allows Tillman to shove the knife into Castle's chest. After Castle dies, Tillman convinces Castle's technicians to release everyone, everywhere from potential control by the technology.
re-teamed with Mark Neveldine
and Brian Taylor
, the creators of Crank
(2006), to produce a "high-concept futuristic thriller" called Game. Neveldine and Taylor wrote the script for Game and were slated to direct the film, while actor Gerard Butler
was cast into the lead role.
Production took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico
for a 53-day shoot. Filming was at the Albuquerque Studios and on location around Albuquerque. Multistory sets were built on parking lots in downtown Albuquerque to depict buildings that were blown up in the film, and other sets were built on the back lots near the studios. The crew used special hand-held Red One digital cameras, which allowed the special effects team to begin work normally done in post-production after each day's shooting.
In March 2009, the film's working title was changed from "Game" to "Citizen Game". In May 2009, another name change was announced, the new name being "Gamer".
and Rollerball
. RVA Magazine
reasoned that Gamers plot is overly similar to The Condemned
and commented that Gamer "hates its primary audience" and "tries to criticize the commercialization
of violence, even though it itself is commercialized violence".
The film holds a 29% "Rotten" rating from 72 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
.
The film's effects and sound were praised. Cultural critic Steven Shaviro
authored a 10,000 word defense and analysis of the film that he posted online, and eventually re-worked this into the penultimate chapter of his book, Post-Cinematic Affect (Zer0 Books, 2010). Shaviro's essay ends with a parenthetical note that observes that "most serious film critics ... tend to prefer 'small, modest, humane, novelistic movies' that go against the entertainment and publicity tide; or else, they cling to 'contemplative cinema,' the long-take, long-shot, sparse-dialogue style that has become a staple of the international festival-and-art-house circuit," before adding: "I think that there also needs to be a space for critics and theorists to come to terms with films like Gamer, that are fast, cheap, out of control, and knowingly exploitative. Such films are, in their own cheerfully perverse way, in touch with the urgencies of the moment, and with the social Real, in a way that contemplative cinema and modest, humanist cinema are not. These films have their own aesthetic merits, which should not be overlooked out of cine-nostalgia." Shaviro's essay also extensively cites one of the few positive responses to the film, the four-star review written by critic Ignatiy Vishnevetsky for The Auteurs' Notebook. Vishnevetsky refers to the film as "proof" of Neveldine & Taylor's "impatient genius, which is really indistinguishable from idiocy."
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
thriller film written and directed by Mark Neveldine
Mark Neveldine
Mark Neveldine is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter and camera operator. He is best known for frequently collaborating with Brian Taylor as Neveldine/Taylor.-Life and career:...
and Brian Taylor
Brian Taylor (filmmaker)
Brian Taylor is an American film director, cinematographer, camera operator, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for frequently collaborating with Mark Neveldine as Neveldine/Taylor....
. The film stars Gerard Butler
Gerard Butler
Gerard James Butler is a Scottish actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television. A trained lawyer, Butler turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies , which he followed with steady work on television, most notably in...
as a participant in an online game in which participants can control
Mind control
Mind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...
human beings as players, and Logan Lerman
Logan Lerman
Logan Wade Lerman is an American actor, known for playing the title role in the 2010 fantasy-adventure Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. He appeared in commercials in the mid 1990s, before starring in the series Jack & Bobby , and the movies The Butterfly Effect and Hoot...
as the player who controls him. Gamer was released in North America on September 4, 2009 and the United Kingdom on September 16, 2009.
Plot
In a near-future New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, eccentric Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall
Michael C. Hall
Michael Carlyle Hall is an American actor whose television roles include David Fisher on the HBO drama series Six Feet Under and Dexter Morgan on the Showtime series Dexter. In 2009, Hall won a Golden Globe award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role in Dexter.-Early life:Hall was born in...
) has revolutionized the gaming industry with his invention of self-replicating nanites that replace existing brain cells and allow full control of all motor functions by a third party. The first major application of this technology is a game called Society, which allows gamer
Gamer
Historically, the term "gamer" usually referred to someone who played role-playing games and wargames. Since they became very popular, the term has included players of video games...
s to control a real person in a pseudo community (much like current simulated worlds such as The Sims
The Sims
The Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Its development was led by game designer Will Wright, also known for developing SimCity...
or Second Life
Second Life
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
but with far more telepresence
Telepresence
Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance of being present, or to have an effect, via telerobotics, at a place other than their true location....
and mind control). This generally boils down to the players engaging in all manner of debauchery, such as deliberately injuring their "characters", engaging in sex with random people, and eating disgusting things because they don't actually have to taste it. As a result, those who work as "characters" in Society are very well paid for their participation. A second game, Slayers, is a multiplayer, third-person shooter game with death-row prisoners as avatars in genuinely lethal battles. Any inmate who lives through thirty matches wins a full pardon. Simon, a seventeen-year old gamer (Logan Lerman
Logan Lerman
Logan Wade Lerman is an American actor, known for playing the title role in the 2010 fantasy-adventure Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. He appeared in commercials in the mid 1990s, before starring in the series Jack & Bobby , and the movies The Butterfly Effect and Hoot...
) has control over John "Kable" Tillman (Gerard Butler
Gerard Butler
Gerard James Butler is a Scottish actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television. A trained lawyer, Butler turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies , which he followed with steady work on television, most notably in...
), the most recognizable face in Slayers due to having survived twenty-seven matches, far more than any other participant in Slayers history.
While Castle, now fabulously wealthy from the success of the two games, is interviewed on a talk show, an activist organization called the "Humanz" hijacks the broadcast and claims that Castle will eventually use the nanite technology to control people against their will. After a stranger gives Tillman a warning in his prison cell that the game's mastermind plans to kill him, Tillman asks Simon to relinquish control over him in the thirtieth match. He uses this opportunity to escape and successfully drives out of the deathmatch arena while news outlets report that he has been officially listed as frag
Frag
Frag may refer to:* Fragmentation grenade, in military, a type of hand grenade*Frag , assassination of an unpopular member of one's own fighting unit, occasionally using a fragmentation grenade...
ged.
Tillman is taken to the Humanz leader (Ludacris
Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
) who explains that the mind control technology can potentially be used without discretion on anyone, leading to the "extinction of independent thought". Tillman seeks out his wife Angie (Amber Valletta
Amber Valletta
Amber Evangeline Valletta is an American actress and model. She began her career as a model for fashion agencies, and appeared on cover pages of internationally recognized magazines. She made her film debut in Drop Back Ten . She then starred in the hit film Hitch...
), who has been working as an avatar for a particularly heinous Society player. After a violent confrontation with security he manages to escape with her. He returns to the Humanz base where the rebels deactivate the nanite cells in Angie's brain.
Tillman reveals to the Humanz leader that he was convicted of murder when Castle used the mind control technology to force him to murder his best friend. Upon learning that Castle has adopted his daughter, Tillman infiltrates his mansion. Castle leads him to a room with a large basketball court and, after a song-and-dance number, using mind-controlled Slayer warriors as backup dancers, reveals that the nanites in his brain allow him to control others infested by the technology. To demonstrate, Castle beats Tillman savagely while restricting him from fighting back. Angie and their daughter are brought out after Castle reveals that most of the Humanz have been found and killed. Castle then allows Tillman to crawl to his family and attempts to force him to kill his own daughter, though Tillman resists. The last two members of the Humanz broadcast this confrontation and then give Simon control of Tillman. He interferes with Castle's control and allows Tillman to move towards him.
The interference and Tillman's prompting that Castle think about stabbing himself allows Tillman to shove the knife into Castle's chest. After Castle dies, Tillman convinces Castle's technicians to release everyone, everywhere from potential control by the technology.
Cast
- Gerard ButlerGerard ButlerGerard James Butler is a Scottish actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television. A trained lawyer, Butler turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies , which he followed with steady work on television, most notably in...
as John "Kable" Tillman, the highest-ranked warrior in the game Slayers. - Amber VallettaAmber VallettaAmber Evangeline Valletta is an American actress and model. She began her career as a model for fashion agencies, and appeared on cover pages of internationally recognized magazines. She made her film debut in Drop Back Ten . She then starred in the hit film Hitch...
as Angie "Nika" Roth Tillman, Kable's wife, a controlled avatar in Society. - Michael C. HallMichael C. HallMichael Carlyle Hall is an American actor whose television roles include David Fisher on the HBO drama series Six Feet Under and Dexter Morgan on the Showtime series Dexter. In 2009, Hall won a Golden Globe award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role in Dexter.-Early life:Hall was born in...
as Ken Castle, creator of the games Society and Slayers. - Logan LermanLogan LermanLogan Wade Lerman is an American actor, known for playing the title role in the 2010 fantasy-adventure Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. He appeared in commercials in the mid 1990s, before starring in the series Jack & Bobby , and the movies The Butterfly Effect and Hoot...
as Simon Silverton, the 17-year-old gamer "playing" Kable. - Kyra SedgwickKyra SedgwickKyra Minturn Sedgwick is an American actress.Sedgwick is best known for her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the TNT crime drama The Closer. Sedgwick's role in the series won her a Golden Globe Award in 2007 and an Emmy Award in 2010...
as Gina Parker Smith, famous talk show host. - Chris Bridges (aka Ludacris) as Brother, spokesperson and leader of the Humanz.
- Aaron YooAaron Yoo-Personal life:Aaron Yoo was born in East Brunswick Township, New Jersey to Korean parents. He has an older sister. He played the cello for the East Brunswick High School orchestra and ran track...
as Dude, a member of the Humanz. - Alison LohmanAlison LohmanAlison Marion Lohman is an American actress. She has had lead roles in the films White Oleander, Where the Truth Lies, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Flicka and Drag Me to Hell as well as smaller parts in Matchstick Men, Big Fish, Gamer, and Beowulf...
as Trace, a member of the Humanz. - Mimi MichaelsMimi Michaels- Early life :Michaels was born in Great Neck, Nassau County, New York. She left to attend the famed LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts in New York City, which she calls "The best decision of my life!" After graduating, on the high school dean's advice, rather than accepting a place at the...
as Stikkimuffin - Jonathan ChaseJonathan Chase (actor)Jonathan Chase is an American actor.Chase was born Jonathan Shane Greenfield in Plantation, Florida. A graduate of the University of Florida, he is best known for his role as Cash in the final season of the UPN show One on One starring Kyla Pratt...
as "geek leader", head of Castle's technical team. - John LeguizamoJohn LeguizamoJonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...
as Freek, an inmate who befriends Kable. - Terry CrewsTerry CrewsTerrence Alan "Terry" Crews is an American actor, comedian, voice artist and a former player in the National Football League....
as Hackman, an inmate sent to murder Kable, he doesn't have the nanites in his brain, allowing him to move faster than anyone else in the Slayers program. - Zoë BellZoë BellZoë E. Bell is a stuntwoman and actress from New Zealand. Some of her most notable stunt work includes doubling for Lucy Lawless on Xena: Warrior Princess and for Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. As an actress, she has appeared both on television and in feature films and also starred in the web series...
as Sandra, an inmate. - Ramsey Moore as Gorge, the gamer "playing" Nika.
- Keith DavidKeith DavidKeith David Williams , better known as Keith David, is an American film, television, voice actor, and singer. He is perhaps most known for his live-action roles in such films as Crash, There's Something About Mary, Barbershop and Men at Work...
as Agent Keith, a CIA agent. - Johnny WhitworthJohnny WhitworthJohnny Whitworth is an American actor.His early years were spent in his birth place of Charleston, South Carolina, with his mother. When he grew older, he moved to Dallas, Texas with his father . At age 15/16 in 1991, he won the 1st Young and Modern Man Contest...
as Scotch, the first person to receive a Nanex-implant. - Milo VentimigliaMilo VentimigliaMilo Anthony Ventimiglia is an American television actor best known for his role of Peter Petrelli on the TV series Heroes...
as "Rick Rape", a character in Society. described as "Moonraker, silver grill, with a latex outfit making him look like a bumblebee." - Sam Witwer as Caseworker, the caseworker on Angie's custody case.
- Maggie LawsonMaggie LawsonMargaret "Maggie" Lawson is an American actress who is best known for her role as Juliet O'Hara in the TV show Psych...
as Female News Host #1 - James RodayJames RodayJames Roday is an American actor and screenwriter. He currently stars on the USA Network series Psych as hyper-observant consultant detective and fake psychic Shawn Spencer.-Personal life:...
as Male Co-Host #1
Production
In May 2007, Lakeshore EntertainmentLakeshore Entertainment
Lakeshore Entertainment Group is an American independent film production company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum . Lakeshore Entertainment is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California...
re-teamed with Mark Neveldine
Mark Neveldine
Mark Neveldine is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter and camera operator. He is best known for frequently collaborating with Brian Taylor as Neveldine/Taylor.-Life and career:...
and Brian Taylor
Brian Taylor (filmmaker)
Brian Taylor is an American film director, cinematographer, camera operator, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for frequently collaborating with Mark Neveldine as Neveldine/Taylor....
, the creators of Crank
Crank (film)
Crank is a 2006 American comedy movie, written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, and starring Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Efren Ramirez, and Dwight Yoakam...
(2006), to produce a "high-concept futuristic thriller" called Game. Neveldine and Taylor wrote the script for Game and were slated to direct the film, while actor Gerard Butler
Gerard Butler
Gerard James Butler is a Scottish actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television. A trained lawyer, Butler turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies , which he followed with steady work on television, most notably in...
was cast into the lead role.
Production took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
for a 53-day shoot. Filming was at the Albuquerque Studios and on location around Albuquerque. Multistory sets were built on parking lots in downtown Albuquerque to depict buildings that were blown up in the film, and other sets were built on the back lots near the studios. The crew used special hand-held Red One digital cameras, which allowed the special effects team to begin work normally done in post-production after each day's shooting.
In March 2009, the film's working title was changed from "Game" to "Citizen Game". In May 2009, another name change was announced, the new name being "Gamer".
Reception
Critical reception has been primarily negative. The New York Daily News, agrees; calling it a "Xerox of a Xerox" and citing a number of films it supposedly takes elements from, including The MatrixThe Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
and Rollerball
Rollerball (1975 film)
Rollerball is a 1975 American dystopian fiction film directed by Norman Jewison from a screenplay by William Harrison, who adapted his own short story "Roller Ball Murder", which first appeared in 1973 in Esquire magazine.-The Game:...
. RVA Magazine
RVA Magazine
RVA Magazine is a full color publication which focuses on the art, music, events, and culture of the Richmond, Virginia area. It was founded in April 2005....
reasoned that Gamers plot is overly similar to The Condemned
The Condemned
The Condemned is a 2007 action film, co-written and directed by Scott Wiper, and starring "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Vinnie Jones, Robert Mammone, Madeleine West and Rick Hoffman....
and commented that Gamer "hates its primary audience" and "tries to criticize the commercialization
Commercialization
Commercialization is the process or cycle of introducing a new product or production method into the market. The actual launch of a new product is the final stage of new product development, and the one where the most money will have to be spent for advertising, sales promotion, and other marketing...
of violence, even though it itself is commercialized violence".
The film holds a 29% "Rotten" rating from 72 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
The film's effects and sound were praised. Cultural critic Steven Shaviro
Steven Shaviro
Steven Shaviro is an American cultural critic. His most widely read book is Doom Patrols, a "theoretical fiction" that outlines the state of postmodernism during the early 1990s, using poetic language, personal anecdotes, and creative prose....
authored a 10,000 word defense and analysis of the film that he posted online, and eventually re-worked this into the penultimate chapter of his book, Post-Cinematic Affect (Zer0 Books, 2010). Shaviro's essay ends with a parenthetical note that observes that "most serious film critics ... tend to prefer 'small, modest, humane, novelistic movies' that go against the entertainment and publicity tide; or else, they cling to 'contemplative cinema,' the long-take, long-shot, sparse-dialogue style that has become a staple of the international festival-and-art-house circuit," before adding: "I think that there also needs to be a space for critics and theorists to come to terms with films like Gamer, that are fast, cheap, out of control, and knowingly exploitative. Such films are, in their own cheerfully perverse way, in touch with the urgencies of the moment, and with the social Real, in a way that contemplative cinema and modest, humanist cinema are not. These films have their own aesthetic merits, which should not be overlooked out of cine-nostalgia." Shaviro's essay also extensively cites one of the few positive responses to the film, the four-star review written by critic Ignatiy Vishnevetsky for The Auteurs' Notebook. Vishnevetsky refers to the film as "proof" of Neveldine & Taylor's "impatient genius, which is really indistinguishable from idiocy."